


To See Snowfall In Colorado

by WhimsicalCircles



Category: Community
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-27
Updated: 2012-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-22 15:11:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/611203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhimsicalCircles/pseuds/WhimsicalCircles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An absurd prospect, is it not?</p>
            </blockquote>





	To See Snowfall In Colorado

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This was written for flerica/pervinca on the kink meme of the LJ comm communityslash. This here's just a crosspost, but I saw all the Yuletide fics going up on Christmas day and I thought it'd be nice. 
> 
> (Fun fact: My markers for scene breaks are usually dashes, but I was deliberate in choosing asterisks for this particular work because of their resemblance to snowflakes.)

“Goooooood Morning Greendale! Though at this rate we might be Whitedale by the end of the day! Heh heh, no really, sneak a peek out the window when you get the chance. That’s _actual_ snow falling out there this year. The days of tossing parmesan cheese off the roof are _over_! So enjoy, but enjoy responsibly; our esteemed faculty like their faces warm and dry just like you do. Happy Snow Dean to all!”

The PA system shuts off with a click, and across a certain corner of the study room table, the day’s itinerary seems to get planned entirely through winks, nods, and eyebrow quirks. At the end opposite, Jeff rolls his eyes but still manages a fond half-smile. 

***

The quad is pretty well covered by noon, so after lunch and a quick drive home for some weather-appropriate coats, hats, and gloves, Troy and Abed arrive back on campus and Annie waves to them from the library steps, the rest of the group in tow. An intense snowball war has already broken out between Leonard and Magnitude and the makeshift armies they’ve assembled, a flurry of powdery projectiles that’s making the direct route to the library more or less impassable (Leonard’s overhand fastball is particularly vicious). Undeterred, Abed extends a gloved hand for Troy to grab.

“Follow my lead.” His brow pitches down, as does his voice, and suddenly he and Troy are action heroes about to embark on the most dangerous high-stakes mission of their lives. Troy grins and takes Abed’s hand gladly.

“Awesome.” (Not to mention, he thinks, really _really_ hot.)

And they’re off, ducking and dodging and leaping over flying snowballs like they’re in _The Matrix_ and Troy knows he’s supposed to stay in character but he can’t help laughing when a snowball grazes Abed’s hair and he reels so dramatically their hands almost separate. Nearing clearance from the volley of snowballs and knowing full well they have to finish up with something spectacular, Abed shoots a steely look of determination back at Troy, and nods. Troy nods back. They release each other’s hands, somersault under one last barrage from Leonard and Magnitude’s forces, and spring back up to be greeted by clear hazard-free air, plus the rest of the group who can’t even bring themselves to look surprised anymore. They give a little bow for   
extra flourish, and Annie and Shirley clap politely. 

“So what’s next?” Troy asks, out of breath but grinning from ear to ear. “Snowmen?”

Britta insists on the term “snowbeings” but everyone agrees to it and follows Troy and Abed out onto the quad, giving the still-raging snowball war a wide berth.

*** 

They hadn’t exactly set out with the intention of all building snowmen of themselves, but somewhere around the point where Shirley removes the parts of Pierce’s snowman that were “anatomically correct” and hits him in the face with them, it just feels like the right thing to do. Troy and Abed, having finished their Blorgon early through the power of collaboration, set to work rolling snowballs for themselves just as Britta is putting the finishing touches on her own likeness and starting on her cats.   
Idle chitchat fills the air between the study group members as the snowy renditions of themselves take shape, but when the subject turns to this years’s holiday get-together plans (Whose house? How much food? What kinds of decorations to best accommodate everyone?) it’s impossible to not notice the lack of Shirley in the conversation. Instead of wringing her hands together about “the true meaning of the season” and how many batches of cookies to bake, she’s diligently working on her snow-Shirley, seemingly not tuned in to what everyone else is saying. Britta, frowning, taps her on the shoulder. 

“Hey, what’s up? You’re usually the first in line for talk about holiday party logistics.”

Shirley turns around with a sigh. For once _she’s_ the one who looks guilty. “I would be, but I have plans. Andre and I are taking the boys on a weekend trip to the mountains. He’s gonna teach them how to ski.” Her face briefly lights up in a beaming parent’s smile that Britta can’t help but be a little jealous of, but it melts away as quickly as it came. “And with everyone else’s plans, and   
classes about to end, there won’t be time for us to be together as a group again until next semester.”

Abed pops out from behind his snowman. “Would taking us with you be an option?”

Shirley’s smile and the hand over her heart more-or-less answers the question.”We’d need to rent extra rooms at the ski lodge, but that’d be so nice! I’ll text Andre.”

Abed gives the thumbs-up. “Cool. First though, we need someone to get a picture of us with our snowmen. And fast. The sun’s coming out.”

Annie stealthily lobs a snowball at the head of a photography student on Magnitude’s side of the snowball fight, and flags him down as he retreats to recruit him for the position of taking the group photo. The seven of them pose with their cold and lopsided doppelgängers (plus three cats and a Blorgon) like they’re greeting newly-created clones of themselves. (Abed’s idea.) After the shutter clicks, Troy breaks his pose to grab Abed’s hand and squeeze it. The fog that Abed’s visibly exhaling with his breath looks tempting in a way Troy hadn’t realized before; he kind of wants to catch it. And Abed’s giving him the look that tells him that he’s thinking the same thing and would like that very much, so Troy stands on his tiptoes and tilts his head to meet Abed’s mouth. The shutter clicks again. 

***

It takes a bit of finagling of the calendar for all parties involved, but somehow everything works out and that Saturday, everyone in the study group is driving up to meet each other (and Shirley’s family) at a ski resort in the Colorado Rockies. On the way over, Troy, Abed, and Annie alternate driving positions and listen to the _Inspector Spacetime ‘Spectacular Conclusion’_ audio dramas, meant to fill in some of the gaps between the Eighth and Ninth Inspectors. There’s also Trail Mix, brought along on the condition that Annie not be responsible for the car’s next vacuuming. There has to be some attempt at keeping things where they should be, after all. 

“Abed?” Annie asks, keeping an eye on the back seat through the rearview mirror. “Why’ve you got your camera? New project?” 

“My film class is covering the blending of genres, starting with the mockumentary. I figured cryptozoology would be the obvious route to take.” When Annie doesn’t respond (unfortunately the back of her head never learned how to raise an eyebrow), Abed amends, “I’ll be using Pierce and some shag carpet I bought to prove the existence of yetis.”

Naturally.

*** 

“The yeti, previously thought to only reside in the peaks of the Himalayas, has recently been sighted in the Rocky Mountains. And as you can see, there he is, having made his home on the slopes of a humble Colorado ski resort, where he feeds on—”

Off in the distance, Pierce sneezes, and it’s loud enough to make Troy jump. Abed stops narrating and shuts off the camera. 

“Pierce!” he calls. “We’re going for mysterious and elusive, not Abominable Snowman. Roll it back and try again.”

Troy squints; the figure in the distance is moving further away, throwing the shag carpeting off his back as he goes. There’s some unintelligible grumbling going on there, but it’s drowned out by the wind and the boom mic still hasn’t gotten working yet. Abed shakes his head. 

“We’re not gonna have him back.”

Troy unwinds his scarf and scratches at the back of his neck. (Shirley swears by the warmth and comfort of wool, but Troy is skeptical. And itchy.)”What are we gonna do now then?”

“Well, I’m hoping we can get Jeff as our replacement. But I’m not optimistic.” He purses his lip, briefly, the gears turning in his head regarding what to do about their diva of a yeti. But then his face clears and he nods his head towards the ski lodge at the bottom of the hill. “Now anyway seems like a good time for a break.”

Troy grins; he could swear that Abed’s completely tuned in to his craving for tomato soup and Netflix by the fire, and he opens his mouth to say so but Abed isn’t done talking yet. 

“As a sidenote, it might be a good idea to clear a path for the skier coming down the hill. I’m not planning on our winter shenanigans descending into slapstick.”

No sooner than Troy can turn his head to look does he hear a three-part chorus of “Look out!” that sounds like a guy and two kids, approaching fast. He dives for cover behind Abed, and moments later the powder snow settles to reveal Andre skidding to a stop on the slope, Jordan and Elijah at his sides. Andre laughs and Troy realizes belatedly that he’s still cowering a little,   
clutching onto Abed’s shoulders for dear life. 

“Hey guys! Sorry about that.” Andre pushes his ski goggles up to rest on his forehead. “How are you liking this weather?” 

Troy says that it’s awesome at the same time that Abed reports that it’s a little windy. Jordan and Elijah are facing off with their ski poles, smiling expectantly at Troy and Abed, and somehow knowing they won’t be let down this time. Abed, never one to disappoint anyway, seamlessly slips into the character of the Dread Pirate Roberts even though it doesn’t quite fit the climate, and he and Troy take up the remaining ski poles and do a little harmless parrying until Jordan and Elijah’s attention is caught by something else and they’re off trying to run everywhere and do everything at once. Andre gets the same warm happy smile on his face that Abed’s learned to recognize in Shirley as glowing affection. 

“Shirley back in the lodge with Ben?” 

“Yep,” Abed says. 

“She hasn’t left him alone since he started trying to talk this afternoon,” Troy adds, and he’s positive that he sees Andre’s jaw actually drop. 

“So… that’s probably our cue to book it on over there.” And he’s putting the goggles back over his eyes, calling Elijah and Jordan back to his side, readying his ski poles to spring into action. Troy wonders briefly about parenthood, what that’d be like with Abed, if they’d ever have moments like this where you get to be both a dad and a superhero at the same time. But the odds are looking pretty good. Andre corrects Jordan’s grip on the poles, and turns back to Troy and Abed.

“We’ll see you later. By the way, watch out for the moose; don’t make eye contact. They hate everyone here.”

With that he skis off, leaving Troy and Abed to remember that they were on their way back to the lodge themselves. So begins their trek back. Halfway down the hill, Troy accidentally catches the eye of the most contemptuous, grudge-bearing, hateful-looking moose he’s ever seen. He never even knew before that moose could feel those emotions, but he takes Andre’s word for it. Not to mention the fact that he could swear it’s following them with its eyes, it’s more than enough reason to quicken his pace, and hold Abed’s hand tightly as they go. 

***

Troy’s first thought upon entering the ski lodge to see every available surface covered in garland, string lights, and wreaths is essentially, in a word: _How_. He never ends up asking for the full story, but he’s picked up some methods of putting two and two together and can surmise that the answer probably lies somewhere between Jeff’s just-won-a-case smirk, Annie’s color-coded planner, Pierce’s wallet, and the casserole that Shirley’s pulling out of the oven. However it came about, a party is imminent and it’s happening here. 

There are a few other patrons of the lodge sprawled throughout the den area, but mostly it’s the study group (plus Shirley’s family who are presently tuckered out and dozing on a corner sofa), milling about in brightly colored sweaters, only about half of which look voluntary. Abed does determine though that Jeff can in fact pull off the forest green turtleneck look, and snaps a picture for posterity as he cozies up next to Troy on the couch closest to the fire. There are water droplets in Troy’s hair from melted snow, and Abed thinks of pointing it out or even dabbing it away, but when combined with the firelight it makes for an interesting visual effect that reminds him of the time he draped Troy in tinsel, so he leaves it be. 

Annie comes around to light a row of candles lined up on the coffee table, before settling into an armchair across from where Troy and Abed are strewn over each other, not really sleeping or trying to sleep, but rather enthusiastically appreciating the contact and each other’s company in the most lethargic way possible. Annie strongly suspects they’ve never really left the honeymoon phase despite the fact that they’ve been dating for almost two months, and the other more cynical members of the group can say what they will of it but she thinks it’s sweet. 

Fortunately the annual religious squabble amongst the group has steadily shrunk every year to the point where it’ll soon become a pinprick and eventually disappear entirely, but this year is not yet that year and Britta once again has a bone to pick with Shirley about the carols and hymns emanating forth from the radio while the finishing touches get put on the evening’s meal. Annie deliberately tunes it out, instead focusing on the way Troy wraps his arms around Abed’s middle and mumbles sleepily into his shoulder. 

***

It was the prospect of seeing Jeff in a flimsy paper crown (and the knowledge that flimsiness notwithstanding he’d still flaunt it proudly) that convinced Britta to take Professor Duncan up on his offering of complimentary Christmas Crackers on the last day of psych lecture. At today’s party it finally pays off and does not disappoint; Jeff wears the thing without shame throughout the entirety of dinner, which is a feat in and of itself even when one factors in the alcohol. Pierce still insists that someone slipped confetti into the mashed potatoes. 

Troy finds himself sorely let down by his first experience with eggnog; for some reason he’d always figured it would taste like liquid cookie dough. (It doesn’t.) 

“I can’t explain it, that’s just what the name makes it _sound_ like!” 

“Look Troy,” Jeff says, slightly slurred, index finger extended, “you can’t just rush into these drinks on faulty premonitions. You gotta scope it out. Do your research!” The crown _does_ help hammer his point home somewhat. 

“Speaking of Did Not Do The Research,” Abed cuts in, gazing and pointing skyward, “who under the mistaken assumption that it was mistletoe hung holly from all those ceiling beams?”

Everyone does noses, until it seems to hit them that noses applies only to anti-dibs, not to attributing blame. 

It eventually comes out that it was a collaborative effort done purely for entertainment purposes, just nobody had bothered to fact-check and make sure they were getting the right herb and not the popularized misconception. Some concerns about the age differences, family members, and established relationships within the group lead to a few rule changes: only pre-existing romantic couples are obligated to act on instances of “mistletoe”, everyone else must notice on their own and consent accordingly. It’s briefly argued that the fact that the plant is wrong should be grounds for exemption as well, but that declaration is thrown out on account of the “Honest Mistake Clause” which Jeff assures everyone is in the fine print of every legal manual. (It’s not.)

Around the concluding point of these proceedings Abed happens to look up again. Huh. There’s a cutting of holly suspended directly above the corner of the table between himself and Troy. He looks over and sees that Troy is seeing it too. (As an aside he wonders if Shirley and Andre will ever notice the one that was strategically placed specifically for them.) Everyone’s looking at them expectantly. Troy gives Abed a little smile. 

There isn’t much to it; Abed doesn’t really think of Troy and himself as exhibitionists unless that’s somewhere in the margins of the script, but it’s not really that big a deal to lean across the corner of the table and press his lips to Troy’s like they’ve done too many times to count. He keeps it soft, chaste, with Troy cupping the side of his face, channeling vintage films and holiday romcoms, bearing in mind the fact that an audience of nine is watching them kiss. They break away to a little makeshift applause and the popping off of another of Duncan’s Christmas Crackers. 

Abed receives the ruptured cardboard tube from across the table and empties it out, expecting the usual contents but also having it in him to expect a surprise of some kind (best to be equipped for any plot twist). What falls out is a photograph.

Troy leans over so he can see it too; it’s the photo from Thursday, of the group and their snowmen, and instead of posing, he and Abed are kissing. He’s embarrassed for about half a second and then he’s swelling with joy. It _is_ a nice picture. 

“I thought your wall of photos together could use a new addition,” Annie says, beaming away and playfully elbowing Troy in the ribs. 

“Thanks Annie.” Troy’s arms can’t quite reach far enough around her and Abed’s shoulders to totally hug them, but they get close enough. The quiet sentimentality hovers in the air for a few moments before Shirley returns to the table with the cookies to find herself and Andre directly underneath a certain cluster of decorative leaves, Britta uncorks another bottle, and Pierce is back to trying to vandalize Jeff’s crown. Outside the window there’s actual snow falling again.


End file.
